Tributes have been paid to an outgoing, energetic and popular family man who has become another island victim of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brendan Maxwell, 74, of Onchan, died in intensive care at Noble’s Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, 12 days after being admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties.

He was in hospital when he and his wife Diane should have been celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary.

Wendy Banks, one of the couple’s four daughters, said: ’My dad knew everyone and everyone knew him and absolutely loved him.

’Mum is heartbroken. He was the love of her life. She met him when she was 16. My sisters are trying to console her. We are all so upset, we are such a close family.

’Dad was a really outgoing, friendly, energetic and fun type of guy. He had a lot of friends.’

A mechanic by trade, Brendan had been a taxi driver for 38 years and was still driving his private hire cab until about a month ago.

He was also a keen cyclist and a long-standing member of the Ellan Vannin Cycling Club.

His symptoms began with a dry cough and a bit of a headache but waking up on Thursday, April 2, feeling breathless, he rang 111 and was advised to go to Noble’s to get a chest x-ray.

Diane dropped him off and went to park her car, thinking that he was just going in for an x-ray - and never got to say goodbye. Brendan rang her on his mobile to say he had been taken onto ward one.

Struggling to breathe, he was put on a ventilator in intensive care the next day. On the 12th day, the family were told there was nothing more the medics could do for him. He passed away at 4.13pm on Tuesday this week. Brendan and Diane’s daughters Samantha Clare, Natalie Maxwell and Melanie Maxwell all live in the island. But Wendy lives in Lymm, Cheshire, and has been told that due to the lockdown, she cannot travel to the island to be with her family and console their mother, or go to her dad’s funeral.

No date has yet been fixed for the funeral, which under Covid restrictions can only be attended by five people including the vicar.

Wendy said her dad had suffered from pneumonia five years ago but other than that he had no underlying health conditions. He had not travelled outside the island recently.

She said: ’Mum and dad were distancing themselves. It could have been anyone. He could have caught it just from going to the shops.’

Taxi drivers will pay a memorial tribute along the promenade next Saturday (April 25), starting at the Sea Terminal at 3pm.

Brendan also leaves behind his two grandsons Matthew and Louis and his sister Carol Maxwell, who lives in Oregon in the USA.

He will be very sadly missed by all his family and friends and especially the love of his life - his wife Diane.